State President Vo Van Thuong (Photo: VNA)

President Vo Van Thuong to pay official visit to Japan

President Vo Van Thuong and his spouse will pay an official visit to Japan from November 27 – 30 at the invitation of the Japanese State, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang said on November 15 in response to reporters' query about Japan's announcement on the visit by the Vietnamese President.

The spokeswoman said in the context of strong and comprehensive development of the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership and on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties, the visit of President Thuong will contribute to further deepening the two countries’ relationship, taking it to a new height with substantive, effective and long-term development in all fields, for peace, stability and development in each country as well as in the region and the world, cited VNA.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, during their stay in Japan, the Vietnamese President and his spouse will make a state call on the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will hold a meeting with the President.

Vietnam upholds principle of peaceful resolution of international disputes

Vietnam continues to stick to the principle of resolving international disputes through peaceful means, stressed Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu at a conference of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) held in Hanoi on November 15.

Vietnam is a responsible country within the international community that respects the basic principles of international law, including the principle of peaceful resolution of international disputes, said Vu at the PCA Vietnam Conference.

According to the diplomat, the country stands ready to resolve international disputes with foreign partners through international mediation, conciliation, and arbitration agencies, or other mechanisms related to sovereignty, trade, and investment, alongside other measures such as direct exchanges, consultations, and negotiations.

He went on to express hope that the Hanoi PCA Office would promote its strengths in providing legal services for disputes between countries, between investors and countries, and between State business corporations, as a way of helping local arbitrators to acquire greater experience in preventing and handling international disputes.

Taking the floor, Marcin Czepelak, secretary general of the PCA, welcomed Vietnam’s viewpoint that has been reiterated in its commitments at international PCA conferences, according to VOV.

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu addresses the PCA Vietnam Conference.

Vietnam places trust in PCA and vice versa, and based on the mutual trust the PCA Office was inaugurated in Hanoi last November that has so far handled 26 lawsuits, an impressive figure after a year of operation, he noted.

The secretary general then delivered a message of peace, principles, and prosperity, outlining that the PCA, as a peaceful tool, should be accessible at all times. He noted that the world is going through a difficult period and countries should take advantage of every opportunity available to achieve or maintain peace based on order and principles.

The peaceful resolution of international disputes is therefore indispensable in the world today, with peace and order bringing about prosperity, he stressed.

After the opening ceremony, delegates conducted two discussion sessions, focusing on trust building measures among nations, as well as the policy-making and legal rights of the host state in energy disputes between investors and states.

50th anniversary of diplomatic ties heralds new chapter of Vietnam - Luxembourg relations

Vietnam and Luxembourg are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations (November 15, 1973 - 2023), which is believed to herald a new chapter of their ties that Vietnam should optimize in the time ahead.

At a press meeting during his official visit to Vietnam from May 3 to 5 this year, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said his country has always stood side by side with Vietnam, even during trying times, and the two sides are determined to elevate their relations to a new height, especially amid the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations.

During the visit, the two countries signed an agreement on the strategic partnership in green finance.

Since 1973, Vietnam and Luxembourg have traveled a long path of cooperation in such areas as development cooperation, finance, transport, connectivity, logistics, technique, medical technology, digital technical services, and banking.

As of March 2023, Luxembourg had 64 investment projects worth US$2.6 billion in Vietnam, ranking third among the 24 EU members and 17th among the 139 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation. The projects concentrated on communications, construction, and real estate in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, among others.

The EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), coming into force in 2020, has helped create bright prospects for the countries’ trade links. Bilateral trade reached US$144.57 million during the first 10 months of 2023, equivalent to 77.3% of that in 2022.

During Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit in December 2022, the Trade Promotion Agency under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce inked a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in promoting trade ties and business dialogue, cited VNA.

Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh (second from right) and his Luxembourg counterpart Xavier Bettel (center) witness the signing of the agreement on the strategic partnership in green finance in Hanoi on May 4, 2023. (Photo: VNA)

During PM Bettel’s trip this year, the two sides agreed to step up the effective implementation of the cooperation deal between the Vietnam Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. They also agreed to enhance collaboration in banking and attract the European country’s resources to help Vietnam carry out the green growth strategy for 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050.

About bilateral cooperation, Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Nguyen Van Thao stressed that the two countries do not cooperate for the sake of formality but have selected the areas matching their demand to boost partnerships in.

Luxembourg is a global center of green finance while Vietnam is highly vulnerable to climate change and needs to develop a green and sustainable economy – a target requiring green finance to reach, he noted.

Thao emphasized that the 50th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations will herald a new chapter of their ties that will be much brighter, and Vietnam should maximize it in the time ahead.

Luxembourg Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Jean Asselborn expressed his belief that both sides’ current efforts in air transportation, finance - banking, fintech, or research, science, and technology will continue and even accelerate in the coming time. They will also bolster cooperation to cope with multifaceted impacts of climate change, particularly the sea level rise and flooding that are seriously affecting many countries, including Vietnam.

Developing based on the shared interests, cooperation achievements, and friendship nurtured over the last 50 years, the Vietnam - Luxembourg relations are assessed as highly dynamic, productive, and increasingly substantive.

Flooding threatens central Vietnam as residents scramble to evacuate homes

Torrential rain has over the past few days triggered floods in central Vietnam, forcing local residents to move to a higher ground for safety reasons.

Heavy downpours coupled with water discharged from Bien Dien and Ta Trach hydro power plants submerged parts of Thua Thien-Hue province, especially in low-lying areas, on November 14.

Rising floodwaters turned major streets in Hue city into rivers, disrupting traffic flows and plunging residents’ lives into chaos. Notably, the mountainous district of Nam Dong received approximately 800mm of water within several hours of rain on November 14 evening.

Water levels of the Huong River running across Hue city are expected to exceed the third – the highest – alert level on November 15. Local authorities were ordered to evacuate residents from areas prone to severe flooding and landslides, and shut schools if flooding worsens.

Meanwhile, the long spell of rain caused severe flooding in Quang Nam province, leaving many communes and districts between 0.5-1m deep under water, VOV reported.

Heavy rain make many streets in Thua Thien-hue province impassable.

Hundreds of households in the flood-prone communes of Dai Loc and Dai Hung were isolated by the floodwaters. Many people frantically packed up their properties to move to a higher ground.

According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, rain is likely to fall in central provinces from Thua Thien-Hue to Quang Ngai in a couple of days.

Weather experts warned water levels in major rivers in the central region would continue to rise, threatening local residents living in low-lying areas.

They also warned about the possibility of flash floods and landslides to occur in mountainous areas.

Proposal of granting three to five-year visas aims to lure high-end tourists

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung this morning reported at the conference discussing the rapid and sustainable development of Vietnam tourism.

According to him, this year’s tourism events have had much appeal, attractiveness and pervasiveness at localities which raise awareness of the society about the role, position and positive contributions of the tourism industry.

In the first ten months of the year, Vietnam welcomed nearly 10 million turns of international visitors, an increase of 4.6 times over the same period in 2022, exceeding the planned target in 2023.

As for the domestic tourists, Vietnam recorded around 98.7 million tourists and total revenue from tourists reached VND582.6 trillion (US$241 billion).

The Ministry of Planning and Investment said that tourism is a bright spot for the country’s economic recovery and has a pervasive impact on many fields as well as contributes to improving investment, export and domestic consumption which are defined as three main pillars of the country's economic development.

Vietnam tourism won 54 Asia Leading awards of World Travel Awards in 2023, notably the categories of the Asia's Leading Destination and Asia's Leading Nature Destination for 2023 which affirmed the brand and position of Vietnamese tourism in the international market.

However, Vietnam’s tourism industry is facing many difficulties and challenges in the current context as the number of international tourists to Vietnam has recovered relatively slowly and does not meet expectations.

The reason is that some traditional key markets have not regained the high growth momentum as before the pandemic occurred; the work of connecting and exploiting new and potential markets is still slow and faces many difficulties; the tendency of choosing nearby destinations instead of long-distance destinations in some key markets of Vietnam; slow connection and restoration of international flight frequencies as before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides, inflation, higher exchange rates, political conflicts, decline in tourism expenditures and so on have significantly affected the number of international visitors to Vietnam over passing time.

Moreover, there has been a lack of strict management works for tourism destinations in some localities without decisiveness in promptly handling cases of environmental pollution, waste, overpriced restaurants and so on affecting the image of Vietnam tourism.

Amid the issues, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism proposed some missions and solutions comprising the continuation of strengthening the inter-sector collaboration, studying and proposing mechanisms and policies to facilitate the recovery and development of the tourism sector.

In particular, it is essential to implement short-term visa exemption for some big potential markets such as China, India and so on to stimulate tourism demand, especially during the low season, expand the simple visa exemption for citizens of Australia, Canada, the United States and the rest countries in the European Union and so on.

Besides, it is important to perform the pilot program of granting visas at the border gates for international tourists, granting long-term visas from three to five years to attract advanced travelers and retired visitors, SGGP reported.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung this morning reports at the conference. (Photo: Viet Chung)

In addition, it is essential to simplify the procedures of granting e-visa, ensuring the website display which would be simple and easy to show the visa results.

The leader of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the unit would continue to strengthen the cooperation with countries, territories and international airlines to promote the opening of new air routes and increase the direct flight frequencies to top destinations of Vietnam and key cities of targeted visitors.

Besides, it is essential to promote the collaboration between the aviation sector and tourism under the spirit of “harmonious interest and shared difficulties” to bring long-term interests for all the relevant parties, including the issues of airfares.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also proposed to soon implement the adjustment of electricity price for accommodations being equal to electricity price for production in the upcoming time; extend the value-added tax payment time by 12 months to 24 months; postpone land rental payment time; consider and reduce bank interest rates dedicated for tourism businesses according to the principle that loan interest rates not being higher than three percent compared to deposit interest rates; expand the list of cities piloting night economy development.

In addition, it is essential to soon establish a national tourism council and a national tourism certification committee to implement mutual agreements in the ASEAN tourism profession.

On the other hand, it is important to research and propose policies to support the development of night tourism, rural agricultural tourism, community tourism, sustainable tourism and tourism associated with the cultural industry and creative industry; promote the inter-regional and inter-local collaboration, form value chains, tourism products and build a civilized, safe and friendly tourism environment; connect tours, routes and tourist attractions; invest in development of infrastructure and technical facilities; strengthen human resource training; develop the public-private partnership model in destination management at the regional and local levels.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also focus on dramatically implementing the tourism promotion programs and accelerating the recovery for international markets to well prepare for the peak period by the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung also said that the unit would continue to implement the project of “Developing tourism human resources to adapt to Covid-19 pandemic impact in the period 2021 – 2030”.

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